what is the best food for your dog? i give my dog iams, how long do you keep your dog on the same food?

Answer 1

If you don't mind the price, Innova Evo is excellent. All natural, no wheat/grain (many dogs are mildly allergic), simulates a raw diet but in a kibble form.

Things to look for in a good dog food:

1. Protein sources as two of first 3-4 ingredients (chicken, lamb, beef).
2. NO by-products !! They are leftover animal parts that don't have as quality nutrients as 'meat'.
3. NO animal digest. That is what it sounds like - gross.
4. Try to get "chicken fat" (or any specific fat) - not "animal fat" - that comes from ANY animal available.
5. Artificial color/flavor/preservative FREE. Virtually all of the food that has colorful shapes contain artificial colors.
6. NO sugar.

A few notes: dogs don't use carbohydrates for energy - they need proteins and good fats. Also, if you want to get a food with some carbohydrates in it, try for a whole grain rice or potato, not corn meal or brewers rice.
READ YOUR LABELS!!!
Other good foods: Merrick, Canidae, some Nutro types, PHD Products.

Also, if you feed your dog a high quality food, you can change and/or add to it and there are no digestive problems. Many clients of mine switch straight to Innova Evo and their dogs don't get the poopies (though you may prefer to take a week to switch over).

Answer 2

I'd ask your vet. Personally, I like Nutro Ultra.

When you find a good food for your dog, it's best to keep them on that food all thier lives, changing the type of food (not the brand) as their needs change i.e. puppy - adult food- senior food.

If for some reason you feel the need to change your dog's food, change it over the course of a week. There should be instructions on your dog food bag on how to do this. If not, add small portions of the new food to the old food, then over the week add more of the new food, while taking away equal portions of the old food (i.e. 6/7 old food 1/7 new food then 5/7 old food 2/7 new food and so on....) until you have complete switched over to the new diet.

You should also do this when changing the type of food your dog is eating.

If you switch the food too quickly, your dog will have diarrhea.

Answer 3

I know what's inside those types of dog food.
Iams has filler food in it
Kibbles and Bits has filler food in it
no caesar
basic pedigree won't do that well. basic one has filler food. Their best product is pro plan.
When it comes to eating the right food, I go for Science Diet, Natural Choice(all their brands, from regular, max, to ultra nutro(BEST OF THEM ALL)
WEllness is right along side of ultra nutro. all wholegrain, natural food, no by-products like iams south(iams is the best of the filler foods)

alright, down to what you are looking for. you need a good amount of protein, omega 3 and fatty acids(different from bi-products) Vitamin A and E. Moisture in the food should be low. If you are feeding them canned food, they should have some sort of cleaning the teeth(cleaning treats or actually brushing their teeth), or else it'll rot their teeth out. Hard food keeps teeth from decaying and keeps their breath smelling fresh.

remember what I said, no filler foods or byproducts.

~~~lol realizing the other question, you usually change your dogfood from pup to adult between 1 year and 1 and 8 months(8months is okay since they are still growing alot that year. remember about dog years 7=1 human year? They'll be 7 then, when you know that we still keep on growing alot after that. So yeah, you can keep your pup on it for a while after their first year. It's just when their metabolism slows down and won't be needing as much protein and (something else, some type of fat)

Answer 4

Nutro, Iams, and Science Diet are the best that I am aware of. You need to check the ingredients and make sure it is high in protein and fat. Also, check to see what they use to "fill" the dog food with. It should be something like chicken, or something good for the dog. Your vet would know what would be best. I have fed my dog the same food her entire life. When she was overweight, I fed her the same brand only the weight management kind. The important thing to remember is if you change it mix the 2 gradually or you may end up with a sick pooch!

Answer 5

Most vets don't know a darn thing about nutrition and only want to sell the Science Diet they sell in their offices. No corn, wheat, soy, or by products or mystery meat (i.e.-"animal meal"). Basically, Iams, Pedigree, Purina, Science Diet, Eukanuba, ANY dog food found in a supermarket is all crap. Innova, Canidae, Chicken Soup, Wellness, Dick van Patten's Natural Balance are all better choices. Moist n Meaty? Kibbles n Bits? *runs to bathroom to throw up*

Answer 6

I would ask your vet what he thinks would be good for your dog since he knows the age, condition and breed facts. I think Iams is a good dog food though, that's what I feed my dogs. I also think as long as your dog likes the food and they don't need put on a certain type for like weight loss or something you can feed them that as long as you want.

Answer 7

Nutro is by far the best food for dogs, short of making your own dog food. Vets will reccomend the food of their sponsors. I have a vet for my dog and another for my cat (both specialists) and one reccomends Iams, the other Hills SD. I feed nutro to both my pets. In two weeks their coats, skin, eyes and teeth were healthier, no bad breath, and gone were the offensive odours of their excrement. It is the best thing I ever did.

Answer 8

I feed my dog Innova Evo Large Bites.. I've tried Wellness, Canidae and Eagle Brand. I usually rotate every few years. I let my dog pick... and then gradually change her food over. I love going to the specialty pet stores; you can get tons of samples and really helpful advice. I liked Nutro and Biljac, but my dog really likes Innova and will run to her food bowl!

Answer 9

Any dog food is fine as long as it agrees with your pups system. I had my dog on Iams for awhile and it gave him gas so I switched it to Kibbles n bits and that works better. You should not change there food ever its good to keep them on one food for their whole life if u can.

Answer 10

Look for a dog food that doesn't contain the following ingredients as they are either bad for the dog or isn't that good nutritionally.

- corn, wheat, soy or brewer's rice
- animal by-products
- sugar, corn syrup, sorbitol, salt
- any kind of coloring/dyes
- BHT or BHA
- salt
- animal digest